CBP Dog Detects $44,690 in Undeclared Cash at Philadelphia Airport
A Customs and Border Protection dog named Nitro found $44,690 in undeclared currency from a traveler bound for Cancun, Mexico, on May 7. Officials seized most of the cash after the traveler initially reported carrying only $10,000. The agency is reminding summer travelers to report amounts over $10,000 or risk seizure and penalties.
New York PostA cash-sniffing dog working with Customs and Border Protection at Philadelphia International Airport detected $44,690 in undeclared cash from a passenger heading to Cancun, Mexico, on May 7. The 3-year-old chocolate Labrador named Nitro alerted officers to the currency, which the 54-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen from Peru had concealed on his person and inside his carry-on bag.
The traveler initially told officers he was carrying $10,000, the threshold above which international travelers must file a report. A deeper inspection found additional bundles hidden in multiple locations. Officers seized nearly all of the cash, returning $240 to the traveler for humanitarian purposes.
"This traveler concealed currency in multiple locations for the purpose of evading federal currency reporting laws, but no amount of concealment can hide bulk currency from Customs and Border Protection officers and especially from CBP canine Nitro," Acting Area Port Director Elliot Ortiz said in a press release.
Federal law requires travelers entering or leaving the United States with more than $10,000 in cash or monetary instruments to file a FinCEN Form 105 with Customs and Border Protection. Carrying large amounts of cash is not illegal, but failing to report it can result in seizure of the funds, civil penalties and possible criminal charges.
Officials said the traveler faces those potential consequences after attempting to evade the reporting requirement. The agency noted the incident occurred as summer travel season begins. "We are quickly approaching the busy summer travel season, and CBP urges travelers to truthfully report all currency they possess to a CBP officer during inspection or face severe consequences as this traveler learned," Ortiz added.
Protection reported seizing an average of roughly $180,000 in undeclared or illicit currency per day during fiscal year 2025. airports. At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, a Belgian Malinois named Pub helped detect nearly $75,000 in undeclared cash during the first three months of 2026.
The dog was responsible for about 20 percent of all undeclared cash found at the airport in that period, according to officials. The two incidents involved separate stashes of $44,432 bound for Qatar in February and $30,417 bound for El Salvador in March.
Officials said the dogs are trained to detect both cash and firearms.
